The game was well contested from the start, where the Serbaisn started the game by going strong in the paint and had a balanced attack. The first quarter ended 17-14 in favor of Serbia as Kosta Perovic, Novica Velickovic and Milan Macvan scored 12 of those points.

The Serbian shooters were held during the game but came out in the final quarter, as Aleksandar Radic made two straight three pointers in the final seconds to send the game into the first overtime of the FIBA World Championship tied at 69.

In the overtime period the veteran guards came into play again as Hamann, captain of the German team, made two key baskets at the beginning of the quarter to give the Germans an early lead. Then Serbia came back with a three pointer by Milenko Tepic and a free throw by Kosta Perovic tied the game at 73 with 1:06 left. The game stayed that way as both teams scored 4 points each, to go into a second overtime.

The German offense exploded in the second overtime led by Jan Jagla and Demond Greene while their defense pressured the ball to disrupt the Serbian offense. An impressive fade away three pointer by Jan Jagla with 1:04 left didn’t take the Serbians away but in the final possession the German defense avoided a loss.

Quotes:
Dirk Bauermann (Head coach, Germany): “Both teams deserved to win today. We played so hard. Jagla’s 3 pts shoot at the second overtime was the most critical point in the match. The harder you work, luckier you are. We have very young team like our opponent Serbia and we need to make a lot of progress too. I am happy that we won this game.”
Dusan Ivkovic (Head coach, Serbia): “It was tough game with 2 overtimes. German team had better control the game and they were sometime lucky, as in Jagla’s 3 point shot in the second overtime. We still have 3 more games and we will be better. I also want to congratulate German team.”

Jan-Hendrik Jagla, (Forward, Germany): “Both teams were great. Although there were two overtimes, none of the players showed any sign of exhaust. We did our best. We lost yesterday and that was really bad and if we did not win today, we would not go any further. I am happy we did it.”

Steffen Hamann (Guard, Germany): “I think its a big win, especially for a young team like us. This moment team going especially for a young team like this. we don’t have too much time to celebrate, we have a tough game tomorrow. Its my 7-8th year in this team, we have a different role, growing up our young team. They make mistake, i make mistakes, it happens a lot but we help each other.”
FIBA